NATO
May 17, 2023

NATO Military Delegation visits Partner Egypt

From 14th to 17th May 2023, a military delegation from NATO’s Cooperative Security Division, led by its Director, Lieutenant General Francesco Diella travelled to Egypt to meet with senior diplomatic and military representatives to discuss their ongoing military cooperation and possibilities to deepen the existing partnership.

On the first day…the NATO delegation met with its Egyptian counterparts, led by Major General Khaled Megawer, Assistant to the Minister of Defence….Lieutenant General Diella briefed the Egyptian delegation on the NATO’s new Strategic Concept, emphasising how current challenges are deeply interconnected, the importance of international cooperation….

The NATO delegation then visited the new Sahel and Sahara Centre for Counter-Terrorism, which is supported by 25 African countries. Its Director, Major General Mohamed Abdel Basset…underlined the Centre’ strong interest in establishing a cooperation with NATO.

The second day started with a meeting hosted by H.E. Ambassador Nikolas Papageorgiou, Head of the Greek Embassy in Cairo and the NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) for Egypt, which was attended by numerous Allied diplomatic and military representatives present in the country. During the event, Lieutenant General Diella spoke of NATO’s ongoing cooperation with Egypt and the importance of rapidly developing the new Individually Tailored Partnership Programme.

Shortly thereafter, the NATO delegation met with H.E. Ambassador Ehab Badawy, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs….Lieutenant General Diella addressed the advantages of Egypt becoming more interoperable with NATO, especially by taking part in the Operational Capabilities Concept.

The programme concluded with a visit to the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peace Building and Peace Keeping where the NATO Delegation was received by H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Abdel Lattif. This meeting was a significant opportunity to better understand the important links between the Africa Union and the Centre’s network, which comprises of more than 50 peacekeeping centres across Africa.

Photo: NATO.